Hey guys! Sorry for the late post today. I’ve been having kind of a down day, my motivation is gone and I haven’t finished a book in days, but it just is like that sometimes right? It happens.
Anyways, I wanted to share something. I know I never post pictures of myself but I’ve seen on twitter that author Rachel Caine has recently had surgery, and in an effort to make her feel better, I posted a picture from when I was in grade 10 and met her at a local reading/writing convention!
Now don’t judge me, I know I probably look different than what you think lol, but keep in mind that I was in grade 10. So this was probably 2011 tops! My hair was dyed purple with literal kool aid. It’s what you gotta do sometimes. So I’m happy to share this with you.
Human is so much more than just a super interesting looking cover and a nice red aesthetic. It’s the story of power, spiraling out of control. Of an ancient Earth, still living and healing long after people have deemed it uninhabitable. Human might be one of my favourite graphic novel’s that I’ve read lately, and I think it would make a really nice addition to anyone’s bookshelf, but specifically mine.
5/5 Stars 138 pages Published October 16th 2019 by Europe Comics
Something from space not only breaks apart, but crashes to an Earth, filled with dinosaurs and apes. Turns out, it’s not just space junk, but it’s an actual robot. It’s eager to explore, but it doesn’t know why it’s here or what it’s supposed to be doing, which is a problem. Especially when it’s a hostile environment. But when it’s attacked, another smaller robot flies down and defends it. The two stick together until they find two more robots, and then a ship containing an actual human being.
This is peculiar, because not only is Earth missing it’s humans, but the man in the ship is still alive. And he’s missing his wife. This is when we learn that not only are they scientists, but his wife was going to be the womb of the new human race. Not completely sure how that would work out down the line, but at least they tried, right?
Photo by Adi kavazovic on Pexels.com
Overall, this story was exciting, haunting, cute and extremely gory at times, if you can say cute and gory in the same breath. I loved every minute of it, and like I said, I think it might just be one of my new favourite graphic novels. Scary and cute is the best mix, especially with a little science fiction and horror thrown in. I definitely recommend checking this book out, even if you’re not the biggest fan of any of those things, because I feel like reading this would change your mind.
Something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately, is book events, and how you find them. Why is it so difficult? I just want to go to an author reading, or maybe a meet and greet signing event, just something! Even a book launch.
I want to interact with the book community around me and I want to get more interesting content for my blog. But how do you find stuff like that?
This is a genuine question. If you know, please let me know. lmao.
Though I didn’t take very many notes while I was reading this book, It really packed a punch. Not sure what I was getting myself into, I read haunting stories of coming into your own skin, sexual assault, hard work days and distant memories. Personal poems and short paragraphs and occasional pictures all meshed together, this book is definitely something that’s going to stick with me, whether on my shelf or just in my mind.
4/5 Stars 104 pages Published October 18th 2019 by Thorntree Press
The thing I really liked about this book is that it’s different. Gritty non fiction, it shows the life around sex working, both good and bad. But above all, I think that this book is about finding yourself in whatever way you need to.
I don’t have much to say about this book, other than it’s really interesting and even if you don’t like non fiction, I think you should read it. It’s about real people doing real things and I think that even if it’s a little hard to look at, like some of the pages in this book, it’s worth it.
If you’d like a copy, you can grab one for yourself here.
Here’s a link to the editor’s Twitter, if you’d like to keep up with them.
Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think below.
I’m not sure why but I feel like I’ve read a bunch of books this year about homeless teens. Whether that’s true or not, because I’m not about to go searching for them, I do really enjoy reading about these kind of topics, even if they are fictional. They’re raw and real, something I didn’t used to really like for my fiction reads, but it’s something that’s really grown on me and I’ve learned to appreciate.
4/5 Stars 264 pages Published November 16th 2019 by Dundurn
Safe Harbour only adds to that. Following a fourteen year old girl named Harbour, it shows her life as she lives/camps in a ravine in Toronto, in the fall. Waiting for her dad to swoop in on his boat, Starlight, she’s basically been roughing it for four weeks with only her dog and her tent. What more could you ask for?
The book itself begins with a distant memory of Harbour’s, cloud watching with her dad. They could never start their day without it, and it’s something she does even now, alone. But she misses the sea, and her dad too. She hasn’t heard from him in a while, which is kind of worrying when she’s waiting on him to survive. She’s tough though, and determined.
Photo by Milan Rout on Pexels.com
Sink baths, cans of tuna for weeks on end, and stealing library books are all part of Harbour’s daily routine, that is until she meets Lise, another homeless teenage girl. Lise is also my favourite character, and I wish we could have seen more of what happens to her at the end of the story, although I understand that she’s not the star of this book. She teaches Harbour how to survive the cold, panhandle, get a room in a shelter, and swipe scraps like a pro.
Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book, but had more than one question left at the end of the book. Why didn’t Lise want to trust Brandon? Is she still in shelters? What’s going to happen to Harbour now that the story is over? It’s not my most favourite book, but I definitely had a good time reading it.
If you’d like to check this book out for yourself, you can grab a copy here!
Here’s a link to the author’s Twitter, if you’d like to keep up with her!
Thanks for reading! Let me know what your thoughts on this book are!
Though I have a lot of books by author Ramona Finn, I’ve never actually followed through with reading any of them, until this one. Coming into the author’s work with a completely fresh mind, having just finished a comic book and before that, a non fiction cookbook, I was excited to get back into a topic that I just love, which is a good dystopia.
4/5 Stars 325 pages Published November 3rd 2019
This one, however, is a little different than the other’s that I’ve read about. Not as completely technology driven, this world is one where you trust the government because you have to. They are, after all, saving you from virus zero with many, and trust me when I say many, vaccinations. I’m talking daily injections.
The story is following a girl named Lora in first person, a high school girl who lives with her single dad. Not always easy, but what she has to do. All her life they’ve been working towards her pairing, an event that every 18 year old goes through where they’re basically graded for their immune system, and shoved into an arranged marriage. That is, until she actually is paired off. Suddenly, her father has a change of heart, and Lora thinks that’s unfair. Because she’s going to be successful in her level one pairing, now her dad wants her to reject it and stay home with him? She’s not going to have any of that.
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com
So she continues on with her pairing, and her new life as a level one. Fancy dinners, nice clothes, the works. That is, until she realizes that something’s up. Her paired partner has crippling headaches, and his mother is an absolute nightmare when it comes to his twin brother. Turns out, one of the twins has been subject to mind control through purposeful memory loss, and the other is a rebel. And I’m not talking a teenage rebel, though he is a teen. I’m talking full out plots against the overbearing government kind of rebel.
Photo by Li Sun on Pexels.com
Lora’s faced with a decision. Melt into her new life, or rebel with the other twin, and find out what really happened to her mother. Not that she’s able to really choose between those, this book was an exciting adventure and one I look forward to reading more about. Though the whole New California thing reminded me of Fallout New Vegas more than anything, I was able to move past that and really enjoy reading this book. Lora is a strong female lead, and the world she lives in, although in the future, isn’t really that hard to imagine, and isn’t really that different from our own world, aside from the security and memory loss technology. I’d say definitely check this book out if you’re looking for an action packed story, and a new author to read!
Here’s a link to the book if you’d like to grab a copy.
Thanks for reading! Let me know your thoughts below.
I’m just reading, and typing, like usual, netflix on in the background. I’ve read seven books since friday, that’s 5 novels and 2 graphic novels, and I’m excited to see my review stockpile growing once again, and that means I’m not going to have to rush for a review anytime soon.
But how do you keep this motivation up? I can feel myself starting to teeter, and I’m worried that I’ll end up putting the books down if I don’t stop, and them staying down for a couple weeks. And that’s not something I want. I love books, and I love my blog, but sometimes it just is a little overwhelming with all these books I want to read.
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com
It happens, what can you say? I just need to keep plugging away, and if there’s something I’m having a hard time getting through, I get through it. After all, you can’t just read good books all the time when you’re reviewing.
Anyways, sorry about the rant. If you have any ways to keep your head in the game without burning yourself out let me know because I would love to learn your secret! Thanks for reading.
With a very interesting looking cover, this book doesn’t really give any insight to what might be waiting for you on the inside. Following a girl named Dee, she has a bad hip and walks with a cane. One day, she’s sitting in a booth in a local diner, and a man approaches her with a strange request. He wants to pay her $500 a day to do some kind of mysterious work, neither she or the man will get in trouble from it, it’s a win-win.
3/5 Stars 80 pages Published November 12th 2019 by Image Comics
Who would turn that down? Especially in the financial situation that she’s in, she can’t. So she does it, she makes a routine of it, and she gets her money. The only thing she learns from this, is that money really isn’t everything, and that she is forced to stay in it, unable to simply walk away. She stockpiles her money, waiting for the day she’s able to leave. It doesn’t come in this book, however.
One thing I loved especially was the chain link filler pages when they broke up the individual comics, I thought that was really unique. The story itself is really dark and interesting, but it just wasn’t one of my favourites, I kind of felt lost reading it. The artwork is really unique though, and it’s something you just don’t see in every comic out there. I think the art and the story fit well together, and if you think it’s something you’d like to check out, I’d say go for it! Just because it’s not my favourite, doesn’t mean it can’t be yours.
radioactive book reviews 